Regulation & duties

Bill to scrap the 17% tax on overseas tour operators clears committee

The tax on foreign sellers of Maldives stays has applied since 1 October and remains law until a repeal bill is passed, ratified and gazetted.

Regulation & duties · 2026-11-11 · Drafted with AI assistance and edited by the newsroom

A bill to repeal the 17% tax on overseas tour operators, travel agents and booking platforms that sell Maldives stays has been approved by Parliament's economic committee, the Maldives Independent reported on 9 November. The committee added a change raising the annual income at which a business must register for GST from MVR 1 million to MVR 1.5 million.

The tax itself is still in force. It came from an amendment to the Goods and Services Tax Act ratified on 31 August, and since 1 October it has applied to sellers with no fixed place of business in the Maldives.

After objections from the international travel trade, the government sent a repeal bill to Parliament in October, submitted by Kolamaafushi MP Ibrahim Didi. According to KPMG's summary, the bill, submitted on 19 October, would repeal seven provisions, refund GST collected from these sellers since 1 October and add an anti-avoidance rule. The Ministry of Finance estimates that MVR 1,608.5 million in GST would not be collected as a result. Atoll Times reported that Parliament accepted the bill with the votes of all 43 members who took part, none against.

We found no report of a final vote, ratification by the President or publication in the Government Gazette as of 11 November. Until those happen, overseas sellers remain subject to the tax. The bill does not yet say who would pay refunds or how to claim them, KPMG notes.

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